Puck Drops At Spectrum, Nordiques Drop Flyers

January 22, 1995|by ANDRE WILLIAMS, The Morning Call

The Flyers had punch in their game by viciously forechecking, but had little snap in terms of executing.

So, on an afternoon when the puck finally dropped at the CoreStates Spectrum, the Flyers' offbeat performance was costly as the Quebec Nordiques hammered out a 3-1 victory before a sellout crowd of 17,380.

Twice instant replay was used.

The first time it worked to the Flyers' advantage, with left wing Rod Brind'Amour's follow inside the crease being allowed to tie the game 1-1 with 7:13 elapsed in the second period.

But the Flyers failed to go 2-0 on replay.

With 13:34 left in the third period, Nordiques' right wing Owen Nolan inadvertently kicked the puck -- so it later was determined -- then with goalie Ron Hextall lying on his back, Nolan got a slight slap on the puck to lift Quebec into 2-1 advantage.

"The referee signalled goal right away," Flyers coach Terry Murray said. "I guess he was on the other side and didn't really see it. The goal judge, from what I heard, said that it was still kicked in, but he couldn't determine whether it was directed in intentionally or not, so he ruled it a goal."

Hextall, who finished with 23 saves, was outraged by the call. On the ice, he slammed his stick in disgust, then afterward in the Flyers' locker room, Hextall continued to dispute.

"I don't know how a goal, if it's kicked in, is not intentionally kicked in," Hextall said. "It didn't hit the guy's skate. The guy kicked the puck and the puck goes into the net. That was a joke. I don't know who the heck was watching from the top. They obviously made a mistake."

But that goal was only lethal blow No. 1. The Flyers hurt themselves the most by going 0-for-7 on power-play opportunities.

They had two four-on-three power-play advantages in the third period, the last such "gotta produce" edge coming with 8:05 left when Quebec's Bob Bassen and Craig Wolanin were issued two-minute trips to the penalty box for interference and roughing.

Despite giving relentless chase, the Flyers just couldn't finish. Early in the power play, Flyers defenseman Dimitri Yushkevich corked the puck so hard that half his stick broke. One part dropped to the ice and the other went flying from center ice and into the seats behind the Nordiques' goal.

"Our power play has to be to the point where it can start winning us some games," Flyers defenseman Garry Galley said. "It's the first game of the season, so we don't want to start beating the dead horse just yet."

It was only the first game of the season, and the decibel level at times reached a high pitch as fans finally got to cheer the return of professional hockey following a 103-day owners lockout. But near game's end, the only thing loudly heard were boos.

One play, in particular, led to the aisles being flooded with fans trying to make their way out of the building.

Quebec was apparently just trying to kill the clock inside the last minute, leading 2-1. But with 37 seconds remaining, left wing Martin Rucinsky came from behind the goal to feed Bob Bassen, who slapped the puck into goal to conclude the scoring.

"When you're a little tired, and you're sucking wind a little bit, you tend to stop thinking and your feet stop moving," Galley said. "Things like that are going to take a while before all natural things start coming back."

Things such as timing.

With 12:30 left in the third, Flyers right wing Mikael Renberg broke past a defender, and had a one-on-one situation with goalie Stephane Fiset. But Fiset recovered just in time to turn away Renberg, who's shot -- had it been on the mark -- could have been nailed into the left corner of goal.

"We had quality chances," Murray said. "Maybe the goaltender made great saves. Give him a lot of credit."

The Flyers didn't forget how to throw straight jabs or deliver crushing checks.

Center Eric Lindros, coming off a 44-goal season -- tops on the Flyers -- delivered Philly's first bruising check. And there appeared to be a little extra built-up steam behind it.

Lindros was dealt from Quebec to the Flyers prior to the entry draft in 1992 for six players and two draft picks, plus $15 million in cash. Quebec was eagerly seeking a way to land Peter Forsberg, a Swedish standout.

They did, but had to get rid of Lindros. So, it was hardly surprising that Lindros targeted his early assault on Forsberg. His first shot on the Swede came at the 10:20 mark of the first when he smashed into Forsberg's shoulder and received an applause. Less than three minutes later, Lindros emphatically crashed into Forsberg up against the wall, hitting him so hard that Forsberg's helmet went flying.

Lindros managed three shots on goal, Forsberg just two. So, neither player was totally effective, but was Forsberg intimidated?

"Eric is the type of player who goes after key players," Quebec center Mike Ricci said. "He went after Peter and he stood up to the test."

If the Flyers were graded on their overall season-opening performance, they likely would have passed. Just barely.

"I thought we played well," Murray said. "I thought we had chances. I thought we played smart, threw our forecheck through the neutral zone, and moved the puck extremely well. The downfall, of course, was the power play."